"Say, Trucy-doll, when was the last time you visited mommy?"
"Hm. I think it's been nearly a week, daddy!" Trucy patted her chin with her index finger, "But that doesn't matter-"
"Trucy! Of course it does! Have you at least kept in contract with her?" Phoenix frowned, his brows furrowing and the corners of his lips sinking. "Daddy.."
"Mommy? There's a mother now?" Apollo's eyes widened, "You have a wife, Mister Wright?!"
"You could say that..yeah." his frown turned into a soft chuckle, his love for winding up the young attorney surfacing.
"Gee, 'one could say that'..great wedlock."
"Trucy, you know how worried mom gets-"
"Yeah, but I've been busy with the cases and helping Polly out! The agency needs to get its income from somewhere~"
Wright sighed. "True. Just go and visit her now, will you? I'm sure she'll be really happy to see you again." A smile graced his lips, seeming like the thought of "mommy" gave him joy.
"Polly, you'll come with me!" Trucy pulled Apollo by his sleeve, "You know daddy, now you have to meet my mommy!" The little magician giggled as she rushed her way out, tugging the poor spike-haired boy along with her.
"Trucy! Give her a call before you just pop up in front of the doorstep!" the rugged ex-lawer called out to his baby-girl before they vanished out of sight.
Mommy's phone rang. Mommy picked the phone up and took on the call. "Trucy? Is that you?"
"Mommy! I'm coming to you, and I'm bringing a friend along~"
"Pshh, high time." Mommy was angrily scrubbing the dishes, "You spend all that time at the agency. Are you at least practising your magic tricks?"
"Yes mommy! I'm improving on Mr Hat! Even used him in court!"
"Aha..okay." Mommy seemed reluctant to question the point any further, she was just happy to hear her girl coming back, "What do you and your friend want for dinner?"
"Polly, whatcha feel like?" Trucy covered her phone's microphone to ask him, "Mommy makes amazing cannelloni!"
"Sounds good. Great, why not that?" He knew he didn't have much say in this. "Cannelloni! Make the ones I like, mommy!"
"Sure thing, sweetie! See you soon then, yes?"
"Bye mom!" Beep. Trucy ended the call. "Mommy makes such good cannelloni. You'll like it even more than my magic panties trick!"
"There are plenty of things I like more than that.." Apollo grumbled, trotting along beside the girl. Soon they reached an apartment building, nicer looking than the one Wright Anything Agency was built in, and took the lift to the fifth floor. Knock knock- the door to apartment four-ninety-three was hit on. "Trucy-baby, you're finally back!" Mommy didn't hesitate to hug her girl immediately after opening the door, "I missed you so much! Please come more often, I worry so.." she let the girl skip inside, then scanning the male in front of her. "And you're the friend, I presume? Aren't you..a little old?ARE YOU HER BOYFRIEND?! TRUCY, WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME YOU HAD A BO-"
"NO. IT'S NOTHING LIKE THAT." Apollo waved his arms around frantically, "I JUST WORK AT THE AGENCY."
"Oh. You work at the agency?" She let him in and closed the door behind her, "As what? A magician assistant?"
"No, I'm a defence attorney, actually.."
"A..A defence attorney? At a talent agency?"
"I defended Mr Wright in court recently. He had a messy poker incident.." The woman brushed a strand of her black locks aside behind her ear, "Is that so. What was the outcome of the trial?"
"He was the defendant, but I proved my ex-mentor Kristoph Gavin guilty.." Justice hesitated to speak. He was still somewhat baffled by the latest situations. "Gavin? I see." A smile pursed on her lips, "As cunning as ever. Mr Phoenix Wright." Her voice became so gentle and whispy, if it wasn't for Apollo's sharp ability to perceive, he would have only seen her mouth it. "MOMMY." Trucy rushed into the hallway, "Where is my magic wand?!" The girl had been looking to gather the rest of her magic props. "Well, well, well, maybe a good cleaning of your room would help you find it." Mommy huffed, "I'm finding those magic cards everywhere. Underneath the sofa..I even found one in the microwave the other day!" She rest her arms on her hips and walked up to her daughter. "Go clean up your room Trucy, or no cannelloni."
"Buuut mooooooom."
"Trucy. Please."
"Fine." With a huff, Trucy disappeared into her room. "Sorry about that.." The woman chuckled softly. Huh? Where did Apollo hear that chuckle before? "Ah, no problem, Miss..Mrs..um..ahah..ha."
"Mrs Wright, formally. But the name's Monica. Everybody calls me Minnie though." Her smile turned into a grin.
"So you and Mr Wright are married?" Apollo questioned her, his voice ringing with curiosity.
"You could say that..yeah." Again, was that an echo? "Wait in the sitting room, I have to check up on dinner.." Monica seemed to be in a hurry to avoid any more conversation- but Apollo was the persistent type- "Is there anything I can help you with?"
"Um, if you set the table, that would be amazing." She flashed him a quick smile and made her way to the kitchen. Unfortunately for her, Justice had no other choice but to follow her. "Say-" "You want to know the story, right?" Apollo was persistent, but Monica knew the reason- it was basically gleaming in his eyes. "Set the table and I'll tell you." This may have been the fastest somebody's set the table, since in Monica's eyes it seemed to have happened in a split second. "My, you're eager to know this, aren't you?" She raised a brow, her lip curling into a smirk. "Well, I have no choice. Everybody's been speaking in riddles!" Justice's voice was harsh, pretty annoyed about it all. "I'm sorry to here that Apollo," she pulled out a chair to seat herself, "But I'm very sure there are good reasons for it. I'll tell you the prequel of it all now though." It didn't take the rookie defense attorney long to sit down and prick his ears for the long awaited reveal.
"He never told me how he lost his attorney's badge. Not fully anyway. The only thing he revealed was that he was tricked and he had been foolish enough to fall for it. After that court session which destroyed his career, he came to me with a little girl.." Monica's gazed lifted to watch Trucy run frantically along the hallway in desperate search for something, "We were never officially a couple. Truth to be told, the last time we had proper contact was at university during his days as an art major, and mine as a design artist. Coincidentally, we shared the same dorm and had gotten really close."
"You're telling me he entrusted you with a child after all these years of having lost contact? I knew he was crazy.." Apollo butt in, mumbling the last few words. "Actually we had gotten back in contact seven years ago- only then could I have maybe described us as perhaps a couple. I thought we were going to be..but then he left. After leaving me with Trucy, a month later he left without a word." Apollo kept quiet for a while, watching the melancholic woman in front of him fiddling around with a fork. "How..How did Trucy find him then? If he never came back?"
"He worked some magic of his own and let Trucy know where he was and what he was up to without me noticing." Answering bluntly, she let the fork clatter onto the table, abruptly having stopped twirling it. "I trust him enough to let her go visit him." Monica rose from her seat and went up to the oven to slide out the tray of cannelloni, "And don't bother asking- when I tried visiting him at the same address he was never there, and if I tried calling, it would redirect me to voicemail or Trucy would answer."
"I'm sorry to hear that, Miss Wright. Hey, but wait-"
"I'm Miss Wright because of legal issues concerning Trucy." A soft laugh escaped, "You're full of questions, but they're predictable." She turned around and lay down the tray on the table. "TRUCY, CANNELLONI." This woman nearly made it to the Chords of Steel. "OKAY MAMA, COMING." The girl raced into the kitchen, her eyes growing bigger when she caught sight of the food.
"Goodbye sweetie, and remember to go through your multiplications and divisions daily. It's important." Monica pat Trucy on her head, the girl returning a wide grin. "Got it mommy! I'm going to go through them with daddy."
"Yeah, he should probably go through those again too..he had trouble subtracting some bills yesterday." Justice commented, scratching the back of his head. "Oh, I nearly forgot!" Mommy popped back into the apartment and came back with a lunchbox. "Here's the left over cannelloni for Phoenix. I know he loves it so." A weak smile appeared as she handed it over. "Keep her safe Apollo, okay? I know where you live." With these words Mother shut the door.
"Daaaaddyyy, we're back!" Trucy skipped through the doors of the agency and leapt onto Wright's lap. "Mommy gave you some canneloni for dinner!" With a giggle, she handed over the lunchbox to her father. "That's very kind of her." Phoenix opened the box and smiled, "One of my favourite dishes of hers."
"She also told me to practise my multiplications and divisions with you, daddy!"
"Did she now?" His smile dropped into an awkward grin. "I think it would help you out with the bills, Mister Wright." Justice stated, receiving a cold glance from the ex-attorney. "Trucy, it's bedtime." His smile returned as he faced his little girl, "I need a well rested employee to take care of the agency, don't I?"
"Yessiree! The boss will be back at eight A.M tomorrow! See ya, boys." She stuck out her tongue playfully and made her way to the back of the building. Phoenix stood up, strolling towards the kitchen to warm up his dinner. "Mister Wright? Could we talk?" Apollo wanted to clear up a few things that were on his mind since the visit to Miss Wright. "It's after hours, Apollo, please repeat your question from eight A.M tomorrow, onwards." He didn't even face the rookie, concentrating on the turning plate in the microwave. Apollo knew it was hopeless to argue with him, leaving the room after sighing loudly.
|| Dear Phoenix,
I'm glad see that Trucy's well and happy. Looks like you're doing your part as a father well. If you ever need help, keep in mind that I will always be there for you. I've said this a thousand times, and I'm expecting to get rejected the thousandth time. But nothing will ever change my offer.
Yours, Monica x ||
He folded the piece of paper neatly and put it into his pocket. Looking up at the ceiling for a few moments, Phoenix tried to remember how Minnie looked like. How Minnie smiled. How Minnie felt upon his touch. He couldn't remember clearly. The sudden beeping sounding from the microwaved jolted him back into reality. It took him some time taking the plate out, so deep in his thoughts. The only thing he could recognise at this point was the taste of the canneloni. Wow, Wright thought, that is extremely depressing. He gave a huffed sigh before finishing up and leaving the building to fulfill his wanderlust.